Sick
by Dreamer of Legends
Summary: Lighthearted drabble.


'Urgh...' Yugi moaned, rolling over and burying his head under the covers. The sunlight tore through the shades painfully, adding a dull throbbing ache to his already aching body. He felt absolutely horrible; his head hurt, his throat burned, his limbs were heavy, and his nose was plugged so bad he couldn't breathe through it. So when he pulled in a breath through his mouth, his sore throat responded painfully.

_What happened? _He wondered. He had felt fine yesterday, everyone had spent the day at the park, laughing and playing and enjoying the summer day. Sure the wind had been a bit chill, and sure he could've dressed a little warmer, but it wasn't that bad...

His train of thought ended abruptly as he sneezed, a great rush of air that seemed to drag fire up his throat as it blew out.

'Oww...' Yugi rasped, his voice nearly gone. His eyes were watering and his nose was running, he absently reached over to his bedside table and grabbed the tissue box.

As he cleaned himself up, he remembered with a jolt that he had promised to help Grandpa run the store today, since the customers would be steady with summer vacation starting. He groggily sat up and held his head in his hand, summoning the strength to stand.

As soon as he got to his feet, a wave of dizziness swept over him, stealing the strength from his legs and promptly dropping him back on his rear. Everything seemed oddly detached, as though he was watching himself through someone else's eyes.

'Yugi?' A voice called, sifting through the fog that had settled thick around his thoughts to pull his attention back to reality.

A cool hand reached under his flushed chin, Yami tilted Yugi's head up to look him in the eyes.

'Are you alright?' Yami asked worriedly. 'You don't look so good.'

'Mmm...' Yugi groaned again. 'Everything hurts.' He whispered, unable to speak any louder. Turning his head away to cough into his elbow, he started to rise again, wanting to go help with the store. But Yami held him gently but firmly down, and pressed his wrist to Yugi's forehead. He jerked back with a start.

'Yugi, you're burning up! What happened?' Yami inquired, pushing him back down on the blanket. He opened his mouth as if to call out, but then he remembered that no one else would hear him. He had a voice only when Yugi let him borrow his, and Yugi's was pretty much out of order right now.

'Stay here, and don't get up, okay?' He ordered, pulling the covers up to Yugi's chin and patting his head. 'I'll be right back.'

Yugi nodded wearily and coughed again, and Yami quickly rushed from the room and blasted down the stairs as fast as his spirit would allow.

He found grandpa sitting on a stool in the front of the shop, showing off his latest shipment of Duel Monsters booster packs.

'And here we have the Luster Dragon pack, as well as the Judge Man, and Celtic Guardian boosters.' Solomon explained to a group of awestruck kids. He produced each item with a flourish and set it on the table so the gaggle of children could get a better view, while his friend Arthur looked on in amusement. Solomon obviously loved his job very much, and it was good to see him so animated.

Suddenly, as grandpa was just about to reveal yet another new addition to the rapidly growing pile, he stopped, a glazed look in his eye. He suddenly felt like he should go check on Yugi. He had no idea where the thought came from, but something (or rather, someone,) was giving a very strong mental push in that direction. _Yugi._ It repeated, over and over. _Go check on Yugi._

'Uhm, Arthur, would you mind the shop for a moment please? I need to go see about something.' Solomon asked quickly, and as soon as Arthur nodded, he shuffled up the stairs.

Yugi cracked one eye open when he heard someone open his bedroom door. Grandpa took one look at him and promptly put his hands on his hips, with a small smile on his face.

'What did I tell you about taking a coat to the park yesterday?' He inquired to his grandson's bleary eyed gaze. 'Nobody ever listens to Grandpa.'

Yugi tried to smile, conveying an apology without having to speak.

Solomon walked over and sat on the edge of the bed lightly, putting his hand on Yugi's forehead as Yami had done before. His reaction was about the same too, his eyes widened in alarm.

'Goodness Yugi, this is quite a fever you've got here.' He said softly. 'Hmm, I don't want you getting out of bed, but I can't leave you here alone and I have to mind the shop...'

He thought on it for a moment, and then snapped his fingers triumphantly.

'I'll call your friends over. They can keep an eye on you while I watch the shop.' Grandpa announced.

Yugi's alarmed expression stopped him though. He frantically pointed to himself, then to a photo of his friends sitting on the bedside table, and then made a choking gesture, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Grandpa laughed. 'You're worried they'll catch your cold eh? Do you really think that will stop them from helping you out?' Grandpa asked.

Yugi sighed softly, defeated. His friends would stand by his sickbed even if he caught the plague, he knew that was the truth.

'Besides, I can't rightly leave you alone can I? With no one to make sure you get well?'

This time Yugi pointed to the Millennium Puzzle, which sat on the pillow beside him. Yami slipped around behind the youth and wrapped his arms gently around poor Yugi's chest, smiling at the sweet gesture. _I'm never alone._

Solomon conceded with another laugh. 'Alright, maybe not completely alone. But I would wager your friends would rather be here anyway, just in case.'

Yugi finally accepted with a nod. He didn't want anyone else to get sick, but he would welcome the added company, especially if he was going to be sick for a while. Grandpa stood up and exited the room quietly, promising to call the gang over as soon as he could.

Yugi sniffled quietly, rubbing his tired eyes. Yami snuggled closer, pulling Yugi down so that his head was resting on Yami's sturdy chest. Yugi yawned hugely, committing himself to a long wait, and started to doze off, slipping in and out of consciousness. Yami combed his long fingers through Yugi's sweat dampened hair, humming absently to himself as they waited for help to arrive.

Yugi caught only snatches of the conversations that were going on; as his head was still struggling to pull itself back to reality.

'How is... not feeling well... caught a cold... sleeping... needs taking care of...' Little bits of dialogue filtered in through his dreams, and he gradually became aware of everyone in the room.

A cold hand squeezed his fingers gently, and he could feel a damp cloth wiping the sweat away from his skin. His eyes fluttered open, and he saw familiar faces crowding anxiously around his bed. He smiled slightly to ease their worried expressions. Tea was holding the cloth, dipping it into a bucket of ice water every few seconds. It was very cold, but oddly refreshing too. The sun streamed in through the window on the opposite side now, Yugi was shocked to realize he'd slept almost the whole day away.

'Alright everybody, Dr. Joey is in the house, let me see the patient.' Joey shouldered his way through, with a thermometer in one hand and a bottle of nasty looking medicine in the other. Yugi winced.

'Open up Yug, I need your temperature before I run my diagnostics.' He teased, trying to keep things light-hearted. Supposedly it sped the recovery process, and Joey wasn't about to let an opportunity to be a goofball like this pass.

'Hey Doc,' Tristan pointed out sarcastically; 'It goes in the other way around.'

Joey spun on him with a glare. 'I knew that!' He insisted. 'I was just testing you.' Tristan just rolled his eyes.

'Those two and their games, hey Yugi?' Tea laughed, wringing out his cloth. Yugi smiled around the thermometer, watching with amusement as Joey chased Tristan around the room 'demonstrating' the finer points of a cold stethoscope on a bare back.

And so the evening passed as such, once Yugi was forced to swallow the medicine he perked up a bit, and as the night wore on, the fever broke and gradually faded. They played many rounds of Duel Monsters and other such games, watching movies and joking around, and Yugi gradually felt better and better. His throat was still sore, but the fever was gone and his headache no longer threatened to knock him out. Eventually Grandpa came up the stairs with dinner; he brought soup and sandwiches for everybody, and another spoonful of medicine that Yugi reluctantly accepted. Yami stayed by his side the whole time, supporting him with one arm and watching to make sure nothing else went wrong. That, combined with his friend's carefree and joyous attitudes, soon caused him to feel much more energetic.

When the moon finally rose Yugi was sad to see it, because he knew that it meant his friends would have to leave soon. But they surprised him greatly by pulling out sleeping bags and pyjamas, and plunking themselves down right there on the floor.

'What's a sick day without a slumber party?' Tristan asked innocently, and everyone laughed. Yugi was glad they were staying, and Yami seemed grateful as well. It was a true blessing to have friends like this. He thought warmly, they were very kind to risk catching his cold just so they could spend time with him.

As everyone spread out over the floor, he cleared his throat and whispered as loud as he could: 'Thanks guys.'

'No problem Yugi, what are friends for?' Tea smiled brightly, giving him a hug.

'G'night pal.' Joey mumbled, ending with a profound yawn, and Tristan did likewise.

As everyone snuggled into their covers, they each came to realize in their own hearts what a blessing friendship like this was, and they all slept soundly with smiles on their faces.

Yami breathed a sigh of relief as he felt Yugi's forehead for the umpteenth time that night, and felt no unusual warmth. Yugi's eyelids stirred and he peeked out of them slightly to see Yami's gentle smile. _Thank you too, Yami._ Yugi spoke mentally, not wanting to disturb the others. _For everything._

_You are very welcome aibou._ Yami hugged him, and then whispered softly. _Goodnight my friend, and may your dreams bring you peace._


End file.
